1. Field of Art
The present invention generally relates to detecting spam communications, and more particularly, to detecting chain-letters propagated within user-generated comment sections on websites.
2. Description of the Related Art
Undesired or unrequested bulk electronic messages, collectively referred to as spam, have long been an issue for many websites and Internet users. Traditionally, spam has been generated deliberately by a relatively small numbers of malicious spammers and propagated en masse by such individuals or groups. As such, detection methods have previously focused on tendencies characteristic to centralized spam distribution, for example, identifying an unusually high ratio of outgoing messages to ingoing messages for a particular individual.
However, in websites that allow users to post comments that are then visible to all users, for example in response to a blog, a content, a news article, or the like, a new type of spam has arisen. Specifically, websites that enable users to post their own comments have suffered a resource drain caused by the excessive circulation of chain-letters within those comments. A chain-letter comment will be initiated by a spammer, but then will be largely spread by otherwise innocent or naïve users, who repeatedly copy and paste the comment, and who generally do not appreciate that they are spreading spam messages. This new mode of distribution has rendered previously developed spam detection strategies largely ineffective.